


All the parts I'm missing

by itsdeianeira



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Future Fic, Minor Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 02:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9472499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsdeianeira/pseuds/itsdeianeira
Summary: She doesn’t do her full shift as much as she used to.Home, work and family have brought about a huge amount of responsibility that drags her away from her inner coyote. She has learnt to put her duties first, she has learnt somehow to be a grownup, an adult like her mother has been – her actual mom, not that monster of a dispenser of genes. She has learnt to suppress the call of the wild, overriding her animal instincts. Yeah, apparently now she could, because she had an anchor once again to make her feel grounded.But sometimes, living the frantic life of a family woman, she can go on without shifting for so long that she ends up feeling actual physical pain.Malia's leaving her family for the first time for a weekend in the woods, but as soon as she's away, she feels something is missing.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itsraggedymorgs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsraggedymorgs/gifts).



> So this is my first Malisaac and it's purely fluff. Of course, there's also a OC and of course it's a child! You can blame [@itsraggedymorgs](http://archiveofourown.org/users/itsraggedymorgs/profile) for the name. This fic is for her, after all. Happy (and very belated - like 2 months! OMG) birthday, my dear. ❤️

She doesn’t do her full shift as much as she used to.

Home, work, and family have brought about a huge amount of responsibility that drags her away from her inner coyote. She has learnt to put her duties first, she has learnt somehow to be a grownup, an adult like her mother has been – her actual mom, not that monster of a dispenser of genes. She has learnt to suppress the call of the wild, overriding her animal instincts. Yeah, apparently now she could, because she had an anchor once again to make her feel grounded.

But sometimes, living the frantic life of a family woman, she can go on without shifting for so long that she ends up feeling actual physical pain.

One time, she risked fullshifting in front of Cassie while they were watching a wildlife documentary comfortably curled up on the couch. And it was awkward to say the least, but mostly it was painful, her bones shaking as the repressed instincts came back full force in overwhelming waves.

After that, she started cutting out some time for herself, some time to spend in her animal form. Or rather, Lydia forced her, persuading her to find at least one weekend once a month to roll around in the woods.

And that is how Malia ended up here, al fresco, listening to the constant chirping of crickets. They makes her ear fucking itch.

“It’s been two days and Stiles hasn’t blown up the apartment, yet. I’m pretty much impressed…” her best friend states, stepping out into the porch of her lake house.

But Malia doesn’t turn around, doesn’t really flinch to acknowledge her in any way. She stills, sitting on the wooden doorsteps, looking out in the openness of those woods she used to know so well.

“Okaaaay.” Lydia slurs when she notices her. “What’s happening?” she asks, adjusting her skirt to quietly taking her place beside Malia.

“I don’t know,” she answers bluntly. Something is wrong with her, but she can’t tell what.

“Seriously. I’ve never seen you like this. Not even during our driving lessons back in high school. You and anxiety have always been two worlds apart.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel this pressure here, at the base of my throat. Like when my instinct is telling me that something wrong is about to happen.”

“Is this about Cassie?”

“Yeah.” She stops and thinks about her daughter, the way the kid waved at her only yesterday, sitting on his father hip and cheeringly saying goodbye. Malia remembers the ache she felt at the detachment, while she watched her family go back inside as Lydia’s car drove away from home. “Yeah, I think it’s because I miss her. I’m— I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“Well, with a husband like yours I would be worried, too.”

Malia sends her a stinging glance. “Look who’s talking. To be honest, I don’t know who’s better between yours and mine.” Isaac might be a walking disaster, but Stiles is clumsiness on legs, and Lydia knows it. That’s way she smiles at Malia, observing her with some kind of tenderness in her eyes that makes her look so maternal. And maybe that’s exactly what she has been to Malia for the past few years… a mother.

She snakes her arm around Malia’s and put the other palm on her shoulder. “Listen. If there’s someone that can give you advice on an irresponsible husband, that’s me. I know you’re worried about Cassie, but she’ll be fine. We’re staying here for another couple of days, and you’re gonna resist because you need it. It’s not like we’re on the east coast. It’s not like you cannot reach her in, like, half an hour. But you have to relax, otherwise this trip will be worth nothing.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and overthinking.”

“C’mon, let’s just order something.” Her friends says with a tender smile that makes the knot in Malia’s chest a bit looser. “How about a movie afterwards?”

She nods in agreement, but doesn’t express much more. But Lydia doesn’t need it.

“Huh, I think I only got some classics from my mother’s collection and some teenage crap from my old days… What about Breakfast at Tiffany’s?”

“Fine. I’m just making a phone call before that.”

“Don’t stress Isaac too much. I’ll be in the kitchen ordering something to eat.” Lydia stands up, straightening her skirt and walking back inside, while Malia fishes her phone out of her jacket’s pocket.

 **[Malia]** _Hey! How’s it going back at home? Destroyed anything?_

 **[Isaac]** _HA HA very funny. Everything is fine and we are having some father-daughter quality time_

 **[Malia]** _Is she still awake?_

 **[Isaac]** _Pizza’s on its way and we’re watching Inside Out. AGAIN_

Malia snickered. Cassie was obsessed with that movie, even though the one ending up crying for Bing Bong was always Isaac.

 **[Isaac]** _What’s up? Something wrong?_

 **[Malia]** _Can I call you?_

 **[Isaac]** _Do you wanna facetime?_

 **[Malia]** _Yeah_

She doesn’t wait for Isaac to call. She enters the app, finds her husband’s name and taps on the screen. She stalls, waiting for Isaac’s face to appear on her phone, and when it does, relief overwhelms her like tidal wave.  
“HI MOOOOOM!” Cassie is waving vehemently, like her usual. She’s sitting on Isaac’s lap, her bright smile pushing up her cheeks and making her almond eyes even thinner.

Malia feels that knot ad the base of her throat finally blowing up and turning into this overbearing urge to cry. “Hi, baby!” she says, pushing away the tears. “How is it going without me, down there?”

“We’re doing fine. Dad cried again after BingBong, and I hugged him tight because he couldn’t stop this time.”

Malia throws a weird look at her husband, whose first response is to shrug both his shoulders making the phone camera wave a little. He has his glasses on, so the redness in his eyes isn’t easy to catch, but Malia has the sight of a were, and modestly, she knows her man quite well. His blond strands fall into curls that cover the hairline of his forehead, and it might as well be the distance, but she thinks he looks sexier than ever with his hair all tousled.

“Hey, it’s not my fault I’m so sensitive lately!” he blurts out. Cassie chuckles looking up at him, and Malia smiles soaking up at the scene. It’s beautiful to see them together.

When she found out she was pregnant, she was fucking scared. Her first thought has been that neither her not Isaac were ready to be parents. But the truth turned out to be different, and they have managed the nine months and the sequent five years quite well to be their first child. Cassie is lively and happy, and maybe she hasn’t the most creative spirit, but she has a good heart, and she loves hugs.

“How is the lake? How’s auntie Lydia doing?”  
“Oh, it’s good. Refreshing.” Malia forces a smile onto her face. “And she’s doing fine. She’s ordering dinner and then we’re going to watch a movie just like you two.”

“Oh, cool! We ordered pizza because Dad forgot the leftover meatloaf you had made in the oven and it burned.”

Malia facepalmes unapologetically. “I knew you had to make some mess, sooner or later. Tell me you haven’t set the oven on fire, at least.”

Isaac raises an eyebrow in response. “Who do you think you’re dealing with?”

“A child and his daughter, obviously.”

“Yeah, well, my love. Should I remind you that you are married to this child?”

“I do remember that. And sometimes I question my choices.”

Isaac pouts while Cassie keeps snickering, covering her adorable teeth with her tiny hand. She turns around to put the other palm on her father’s shoulder and pat, “Don’t worry, Dad. She’s just joking. She loves you. Right, Mom?”

Malia smiles. How did she get so lucky in the end, that was something she wasn’t up to question. “Of course, baby. I love your father and I love you. But now it’s dinner time so we’re all better get to our respective movies and dinners.”

“Okay,” Cassie says, waving again at the screen of Isaac’s phone. “See you soon, Mom. Have fun. Say hi to auntie Lydia for me!”

“Will do, hun.” Malia waves back, sending kisses. “Love you both.”

“We love you, too.” Isaac says, mimicking his daughter’s hand before closing the call.

 

She and Lydia eat Chinese for dinner, then watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s and comment together the bipolar attitude of Holly Golightly. “I get where she’s coming from, though,” Lydia says at some point, and Malia has to agree. It’s fun, and for a while, Malia is able to distract herself from her feelings of apprehension. But halfway through the film, the infamous knot ties itself back and pressed on her sternum, making it hard for her to focus back on the story. She holds her phone back and sends Isaac another message: “Call me when she’s asleep.” Her attention span is by now so fucked up that she’s brought to check her phone every two minutes for an answer or any missed calls, desperately waiting for some sign from Isaac. If Lydia notices, she doesn’t say anything.

It is only 23 minutes after the end of the movie, when Malia is already in her room, that her husband finally calls.

“Hey,” he says gently through the speaker, when she answers. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m better now, anyways.”

“That’s good.” He’s whispering not to wake Cassie up. “Please, tell me you are enjoying your girls vacation and not spending your day worrying about us.”

“A bit of both.”

“God. I can feel your anxiety, you know?” he sounds quite worried.

“Can you now?” Malia challenges jokingly, an eyebrow raised even though Isaac can’t see her.

“Actually, yes. I’m not kidding.” His tone is serious and Malia knows that, had she been close enough to him to hear his heartbeat, it would sound regular.  “It started yesterday, like, a couple of hours after you left. At the beginning I didn’t get it, because I hadn’t ever felt anything like it.” He sounds so honest as he says it. “But now it’s clear.”

Suddenly, Malia feels alarms bell buzzing again in her head. “Is it even possible? Is it normal? Should I go back?”

“JESUS CHRIST YOU ARE ANXIOUS.” Isaac mutters emphatically, refraining from shouting for his own sake.

“I’m never anxious. WE are never anxious. What is happening to us?”

“I don’t know, love. Parenting, I guess.” He sighs, as if tiredness has just wrapped its spires around him a little too tight. Malia hears a door clicking closed on the other line and she knows he's standing in the backyard.

“I suppose... I'm missing you way too much for just a weekend. And we’re even in the same county.”

“I wonder what is going to happen when she goes to college.” And that is something Malia wasn’t ready to hear. Something she wasn't ready to picture. Because that's what she's doing now, picturing the day her daughter will leave their house for college and hasta la vista. 

“Oh my god, don’t make me think about it. I can already feel the panic attack creeping in-”

"Breathe. We're gonna be fine. We've been through a lot worse than this. And please, help me say _worse_. Your wolf probably just need some time to adjust to the distance. 

"I know. It's just... My God, I feel like I'm the worst mother leaving her for three days."

"Hey, Lia?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Isaac heaves out with such finality that makes Malia's chest constrict in a much more pleasurable way than just two seconds ago. "And I've seen you being a mother for five years now, and I think - no, I _know_   that you are a great mother. Amazing, in fact. We've both seen plenty of shitty parents, and we're not fitting that category. Cassie is a great kid, she's our kid and she's great. So great sometimes I wonder how come she's mine. But then I remember I'm raising her with you." He pauses, giving Malia the time to let everything sink in. "She's alright, you've seen her. You just need to relax and let your wolf free for a while."

She breathes out. "You're right. Where does all this wisdom come from?"

"I don't know. Parenting, I guess," he parrots his own words, turning them into something solemn. “Go to sleep, wife," he adds with fondness in his voice. “You relax. We’re gonna be fine for another couple of days."

“Okay," Malia finally gives in. "I miss you.”

 “We miss you, too.”

“Goodnight, husband.”

“Sweet dreams.”

When she closes the call for the second time that evening, something has changed. She feels her coyote shifting inside her, the tension loosing around the pit of her stomach, instincts placating. Once again, her anchor has grounded her, restoring her connection with reality, and she's starting to feel settled.

Maybe tonight she will sleep. The weekend isn’t that long, after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> That's it, folks. I hope you liked it!  
> If you feel like hanging out, come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Deianeira__) & [tumblr](http://itsdeianeira.tumblr.com/) ❤️


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